


Ruminations and Recreation.

by ExplodingHye



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen, slamming feelings like a slam jam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExplodingHye/pseuds/ExplodingHye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A nostalgic Raleigh Becket finds himself wandering and admiring the jaegers he'd seen in newsclippings. When he comes upon the oldest of all jaegers, he finds an unexpected guest to open a new way of thinking about the jaegers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ruminations and Recreation.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Archadian_skies for her input on the rough draft, and for Kat for title inspiration.

It'd been a while since he'd seen this old bucket-head up close. 

There was a small break period between the cafeteria openings and the drill routines, pilots allowing food to digest before their habitual sparring. Raleigh, taking the time for wander the Shatterdome, went to admire the different jaegers, all wonderfully collected in a metallic 'funhouse.' He'd seen these before in news flashes and video profiles, of course, but up close was a completely different story. Raleigh had already admired Crimson Typhoon's flexible head construction and the impressive triple arm advancement, and was amazed at the sleekness of Striker Eureka, whose legs looked like they could cut through diamonds.  
Cherno Alpha, now there was an odd jaeger. Still had the spike feet that would anchor it for massive punches, that stupid engine that sat on its head and made it look like two coolant towers made love and had a baby… but it was a classic. An intimidating classic that Raleigh admired even from the old days with Yancy.

No good just looking at his feet, though.  
Might as well get a better view.

He took the elevator up towards the observance railing for Cherno, wanting to look at it chest-on and see what supposedly made it the most stable ride out of any jaeger. The door slid open as he looked up from the floor of the grated box, and--

"Ah, shit-" 

He thought he'd be the only one here. That whisper of a murmur escaped him as he saw a figure leaning over the steel railing as she looked upon Cherno Alpha, a womanly frame with a high collared coat and the combed back head of platinum, blonde hair. It was obvious who this woman was even from the back; it was obvious to /anyone/ who could read the atmosphere of a person. This woman's default stare may as well have branded a mark into skin, the lipstick just as bright as the branding iron that was heated in a Slavic furnace. Seeing her and her husband in full armor was nothing less of 'fucking terrifying,' a dieselpunk dream come true as the man sported a fine collection of rings on his fingers and the woman with red lips to kiss the enemy goodnight. Not to mention she had the build of an amazon and fists of fury to match, earning four men of the Shatterdome broken noses, and god fucking forbid you bring her husband into the fight.

Not at all wanting to disturb this woman, he was about to press the controls to climb back down… when the woman's head turned back to him, eyebrow cocked as she looked him over with a cold glance. 

"Leaving so soon?" 

The sudden chime made his eyes bog a bit, peeling his attention from the console back to the woman. "Yeah, I just didn't-- wanna intrude or anything…"  
She paused for a moment, then motioned her head towards Cherno. "Come. You obviously made the trip up here; might as well not waste it."

With a slight swallow and a hand running through his hair, he stepped off of the platform, his gaze fixed on the archaic jaeger looming in view. Partially, it was out of admiration, and partly just because he didn't want to stare at her too much. He'd learned from a Czech jaeger mechanic with a wrench years ago that prolonged staring in Slavic cultures was a big no-no.

Raleigh wasn't at all about to break the ice with a stupid comment, so he let the silence hang between them both. 

"You come all the way up here to admire a lady's beauty, but don't even comment on her…" the Russian finally spoke, a small crack of a grin finally breaking the stoic face as she shook her head in disbelief.  
Raleigh, again, was spooked by the sudden voice, allowing a forced cough to cover his confusion. "Hey, I ah- didn't mean anything by that look in the cafeteria or anything, I just heard one of the Chinese bros get--"  
She gave a quiet chuckle, shaking her head as the grin remained on her face. "Not me, asshole," She motioned her head at Cherno. "Her."  
He looked back to the jaeger. "Oh, yeah, well I ah… I dunno, ma'am…" Raleigh laughed off. "…I never really thought of Cherno as a 'she.' Looks too tough to not be an old grizzler, y'know?"  
"Most don't," she admitted. "Not at all sleek or shapely like the newer models… but she is strong. Resilient. Brave. She knows what must be done."  
"Yeah…" Raleigh agreed, a small, genuine smirk crossing his face. "A wonderful old gal. How's the cockpit?"  
"Tight. Old, but homey. You get used to it after about six years." From her facial expression, he guessed that /other/ things were tight too inside of a private cockpit after the victory of battle.  
"I bet." 

He paused for a small while, pulling his attention from the jaeger to the woman. 

"…Bossman said you two have the longest neural handshake record. What was it? Eighteen hours?"  
She gave an acknowledging grin. "Mmm, closer to nineteen from what I recall, but yes."  
"How in the hell did you manage that…"  
She shrugged in good nature, still leaning against the rail with her gaze still facing Cherno. "We had to. There was a plan devised that had us wait for that long, so that the Tesla fists were charged enough and prepared to strike whenever it leapt from the water since a blizzard was making it impossible to track electronically. Took it down in one punch, though."  
Her grin grew a bit more tender. "It was after that handshake that he proposed to me, though."  
He could've only imagined what that scene was like. Perhaps bloody noses being wiped with sparks flying while that giant pulled a ring out of that toaster helmet, maybe after they removed their suits he got on his knee… hell, maybe he just took off one of /his/ rings on an impulse and gave it to her. Who knew. 

"We don't have much to us, Mr. Becket. Just our pride, blood, the clothes on our backs, and Cherno Alpha. Hell, I hated Aleksis at first, but now look at us. The portion of our lives that have been worthwhile were made in that lady, and we'd be more than happy to end them worthwhile. We know this every time we climb in her."  
His expression became puzzled. "But you have… esca--"  
She shook her head. "Take a good look at her chest."  
He did, eyes darting everywhere on the jaeger's body. No, those were stabilizations, the cockpit there and the view port… realization crept on his face when he saw the fact: there /were/ no escape pod exits. Nothing. He turned back to look at her, and saw that she'd been watching him all the while he looked, simply chuckling as she drew her attention back.  
"Ohhh, I always love seeing people's faces when they learn that."  
"Every damn time, huh…" Raleigh sighed, feeling like a humbled moron. He pursed his lips a bit, a hand running habitually over his shoulder. "…Jesus, you two are fuckin' incredible."  
"We know~."  
She paused again. "Cherno is our lady, but we suppose… our daughter too, in a way. We take after her. Watch her grow and age. Guided by her pilots, parents, whatever you want to call it. No way in hell are we prepared to settle down in a traditional means, and gods only know what radiation has done to my husband's payload," she crooned with a smirk. "We'd be happy to go down with our makeshift daughter."

Raleigh was listening, but his attention had been drawn to Cherno again as she talked. Now there was an added beauty to her, as if an old relic had been left under a tree to bask in the history and allowed weather to play at its edges. Her mighty fists were clenched and her view-port lights off, but she seemed… proud. Happy to be there amongst the last of the operating jaegers. 

"I'm sure every dipshit in this base has told you 'sorry about your brother'…" the woman began again. "…But I won't. Nor will Aleksis. Because he died doing what he wanted to and what he /had/ to do."  
It was a different form of condolence, he'd give her that.  
"…But I /do/ wish we could have gotten the chance to meet you two together in the 'glory days.' You both seemed admirable enough pilots."  
"Thanks, I suppose," he murmured. "Same for us. Whenever we saw videos of Cherno we couldn't get over what a goddamn /beast/ she was. …Still is."  
"We like to show off~. The fist slam is a favorite of ours."  
He gave another small grin at that, growing comfortable enough to lean on the railing. "What would you do?" Raleigh asked. "If your husband died the same way Yancy did? You two still connected, and you feeling every bit of pain and emotion he felt…?"  
She paused for a moment. "Probably the same you did…" the Russian admitted. "Beat the shit out of the fucker that did it and fall down exhausted on top of its gutted corpse. They'd have a hell of a hard time finding a new person to drift with me," she admitted with a smirk. "Because, Mr. Becket, as stupid as this may sound… my husband and I fight for love."  
"...You're right; that does sound stupid," he admitted. "How so?"  
She finally drew her gaze back to him, lacking the cold intensity it normally had. "We adore other deeply, Raleigh. We've been pilots for so long together, stood against blizzards, waves, monsters... We love our country and our people enough to forfeit ourselves, we love our way of life with the jaeger program and we love this stupid world… and we love Cherno. So much so that we'd be happier being in her as a grave rather than a cemetery. …What do you fight for, Mr. Becket?"  
He shook his head at that. "I guess revenge and confidence aren't good enough answers alone, are they."  
"Not at all."

Raleigh allowed silence to hang between them both before pushing off the railing, nodding once to the woman as he stood. "Well, I'll leave you be with Cherno…" he chimed, stretching a bit. "The first test run of Gips is after the sparring if you two want to come see."  
She watched him stand upright, still against the railing. "We might as well. I'm damn interested to see as to who 'bossman' picked to be your co-pilot."  
"Shit, me too," he laughed. "Thanks again, man. Good talk." 

He was walking back towards the elevator as she thought of something to say.  
"Mr. Becket."  
Raleigh stopped.  
"Make sure you know what your co-pilot fights for. Because if you don't know what they clutter your mind up with… well, don't expect to last too long."  
He gave a soft grin. "Yeah. Good point." 

The elevator's grating shut in front of him as he took in this scene. One of the world's most respected pilots… her visage dwarfed by the impossibly tall Cherno Alpha; a remnant of its time and a legend of machinery. The way she admired that jaeger, the way she spoke of it so fondly and so proudly of it… there was something to be admired about the Russian, the way she looked upon it as a family member the pilot was proud to call 'daughter.' 

The button clicked and the elevator whizzed downwards, leaving the mother with her child and a man humbled in the face of history and antiquity.


End file.
